Star Child Tarot

Happy birthday, dear Libra! The medicine of the Awakening, or Judgment card, is extremely advanced—the reversal even more so. The focus of October for you will be deep inner looking, particularly around the areas of self judgment, self loathing, and self doubt. When reversed, as it is for you this month, this card can feel like a hamster wheel of old patterns, particularly of the mind: the same setbacks, issues and problems can present themselves again and again.

But all of this negativity is coming to the forefront to be released, Libra. This particular karmic cycle of self-judgment is ready to be transformed into self acceptance, self love, and inner wisdom. You have all the tools within you to do this already, you just need to get curious. Ask questions of yourself. Look at your family lineage; the way they spoke to one another and themselves. It will be important for you to investigate why you get caught in these tough places, and how you can wake up from the patterns that keep you locked in pain and self-doubt.

This card is here this month because you’re ready for it. You asked for it. It’s not here as a punishment; it’s doing the most important, nitty-gritty work imaginable, clearing out the dustiest corners, the darkest rooms within you. You’re ready to live in your full truth, and this is only possible when we choose to see beyond our fear-based patterning. Which is really tough, but worth it. And really, October isn’t going to be bad; it’s here to make your life easier, shifting the patterns that have made life tough in the past.

Part of the awakening that is possible in this card’s energy is the willingness to see that these patterns and cycles of self-sabotage and judgment are simply a misguided form of self-protection. Your brain and body think they are keeping you safe, in a frequency that you are familiar with. That’s why it is important to review karmic family stuff when this card comes up, to identify what you were shown by example so you can consciously re-write the script, choosing a higher option for yourself. This is the awakening and the transformation that is possible for you, Libra. To become a loving observer of your thoughts, non-identified and free, eyes open to the untapped wonders within yourself.

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SCORPIO :: SCORPIO RISING – Seven of Cups

October offers you the opportunity to get some much needed grounding, Scorpio—to hit pause on the thinking and get back to the present moment. This is all in service of taking an inventory of your life: what you want to accomplish, how you want to do it, and where you might be drifting off your present course. Seven of Cups often comes to us when we are experiencing some form of distraction…that we may not immediately feel is a distraction. A perfect example is shirking a deadline because you feel you absolutely had to clean the house before you sat down to write. I know that feels like a legitimate requirement, but in truth, you just have to write—messy house or not.

The impulse to clean before we write is a lure, one that is so sly we might not immediately see how it is tricking us out of the one thing we really need to focus on. This usually happens because there is a web of discomfort and insecurity about how to actually focus on the issue at hand, the next most important step. Your job this month will be to face your resistance so you can move through it. This is certainly not difficult, and is very easily shifted!

The point is to get present, clear and curious—to catch yourself in those little impulses and when you do, hang out with them. Ask questions. Consider why they might be here. Deal with the discomfort and resistance at hand, and you will move mountains. This is about how to infuse your dreams with empowerment, bringing you from thought to action. Seven of Cups is inviting you to snap out of a fantasy you might be keeping yourself in so you don’t have to deal with the fact that you’re stuck on how to move forward.

The benefit to popping this daydream bubble for yourself, Scorpio, is to deal with the resistance and move from there. So be really honest with yourself. Make sure your actions and next steps are rooted in truth—and are what you really wanted in the first place. This sounds simple, but it wouldn’t be coming up for you if it wasn’t something to think about. If you want change, progress and expansion in your life this month, keep your feet on the ground and less in the clouds. More here, and less there.

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SAGITTARIUS :: SAGITTARIUS RISING – Five of Cups, reversed

To truly appreciate what’s in store for you this month, Sagittarius, we have to consider the imagery in the traditional Five of Cups tarot card: A man, brokenhearted and robed in black, is mourning three spilled and scattered cups in front of him. He is deeply lost in his story, his heartache, his darkness. He feels, as Five of Cups can often feel, like nothing will ever be okay again, he will never be happy. This card can truly feel like a hole of grief.

However—behind this grieving man, are two full, standing cups. We can see them, but he cannot. He must turn around, leaving his story, to see what the treasure might be on the other side of his pain. The medicine and the invitation of Five of Cups is life-altering; to come out of our grief long enough to consider this turn of the spirit, turn of the heart—to see that we stand to gain everything we believe we’d lost, and more. This is a very powerful experience, one that heals regret, helps us trust ourselves, and brings us into the next steps of our lives, full and abundant. It’s a heart healer. This is the soul of the Five of Cups, the teaching that it brings.

But, of course, you have the Five of Cups reversed this month, Sagittarius, which is wonderful news, actually! The reversal, in fact, IS the turn of the head toward what is full, and away from what is empty. It is the leap of faith that comes when we move and seek in a way we never have before, bringing us into great joy and surprises. The moment we wake up and our pain dissolves. You are going to be seeing the two full cups everywhere in October; it is a very emotionally abundant time for you, indeed. Personal transformation is possible, and it is a time of new beginnings.

Dive deeply into the blessings at hand, courageously turn away from what does not fill you up—what has been lost, scattered, is no more. Bow to it, grieve it, bless it for what it brought, and truly move on. Create space for what you want to nurture in your life. Deep and powerful insights can be gained this month. It might feel more quiet, and that’s appropriate. The more you turn from pain, the more fullness you will see.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

CAPRICORN :: CAPRICORN – Five of Swords

This month is very important for you, Capricorn. You get to do a lot of really important work on the art of re-centering after a disappointment, especially one you thought would work in your favor. Doing so will help you to see the wisdom in your choices, and learn how to be lighter on yourself. It will also help you learn how to be more present and responsible for your actions.

Before you get bummed out: everyone on the planet needs to learn this at some point. It is absolutely a part of the human experience to make choices and have some of them burn—the genius in this, is that we get to learn how wisely respond with ease and grace.

No story. No victimhood, guilt, shame or fear. If you flush your medication down the toilet and start to feel really off, call your doctor and explain. If you ghosted someone and it makes you feel terrible, email them and apologize. If you GOT ghosted by someone who you were really excited by, mourn it, feel the loss of it—but don’t take it personally. While these can be painful emotional experiences, they do not get to drive the car, so to speak. If you can remember this, and have compassion for yourself, there will be the opportunity for major personal expansion this month.

The key to the energy you are in this month, Capricorn, is to investigate the source of these choices. It’s never just self sabotage, being unlucky, or being unable to commit. That’s lazy, and you’re worthy of more than this kind of emotional write off. That is why this card demands that we release our “story” about the situation, and get back to empowered action. There’s a reason why you made the choices that you did. Your opportunity is to dive deep and ask yourself why.

Were you looking for something external to fill an internal void? Is a certain amount of happiness and stability really frightening to you? If the answer is yes, it’s not a problem—it just makes you human. Shining, glorious, perfect in your imperfection. This re-centering is how people change, Capricorn. It is how people TRULY grow, genuinely evolve. This is how we can learn to forgive ourselves, and to forgive others. Drop the story, investigate, and gain softness in the face of your humanness.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

AQUARIUS :: AQUARIUS RISING – Six of Wands, reversed

Six of Wands reversed offers you the opportunity to look deeply at where you resist being seen, Aquarius—for your gifts and talents, by your family of origin, or with a lover. Wherever you shrink. This month’s energy is really acting like a cleansing wave for your fears, insecurities and old stories, all in service of expanding the soul rather than the primal brain, the latter of which is the part of you that wants to stay hidden. Check out where these cycles unfold within yourself, face your fears, and step forward: ready and willing to share your gifts, publicly or privately, on a new level.

This process will unfold really subtly. There are no big shocks, internal or external. It is really about you investigating where you keep yourself in hiding due to an old belief or story, pure and simple. The important thing to understand is that as this internal work is unfolding, life is going to be handing you bigger gigs, so to speak. A real love. The chance to be really honest with a more difficult person. A chance to shine brighter, to share your knowledge with others in a new way, in a way that is deeply fulfilling and exciting for you.

The potential opportunities that come in will be illuminating the evolution that is possible, so you won’t just be working on these internal issues in a vacuum. You are absolutely going to be in the hot seat at certain moments this month, where you’ll have to make a choice: staying small out of an old story, or expanding from your soul. Say yes to anything that makes you a little uncomfortable, that stretches you out of your comfort zone, intimately, publicly, or personally.

This card will be focused on clearing out what whatever isn’t true so that you can take up space in a renewed way—sure of yourself, secure in your gifts, and free of the voices within you that tell you to play it smaller. Your soul wants more than that, is ready for bigger than that. October’s energy will present the chance to release what stands in your way so you can expand, liberating your soul in a way that it is yearning for. You might experience some fear around this, but there’s no other way but up and out for you, Aquarius. You might as well get used to it.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

PISCES :: PISCES RISING – Transformation/Death, reversed

The Death card has graced you with its presence, Pisces: you are ready to move through a cycle of rebirth and renewal. This is amazing news, and always comes bearing a positive and wonderful outcome. The Death card is never anything to be scared of. It is, as the Starchild Tarot calls it, a transformation—an alchemical expansion of the soul, the voluntary sloughing off of some aspect of ego in favor of a deeper alignment with one’s self. Everything that dies off in the Death card becomes wisdom, food that nourishes whatever is ready to take root and grow in its absence. It brings nothing but goodness—even if it can be a little intense to move through.

The reversal of the Death card simply indicates a resistance to letting go. Why do we resist Death—and the resulting rebirth? There are a seemingly infinite number of reasons: the unknown, loss of control, fear that we will never have a better situation than the one we currently do. These are all things to question this month. The reasons we fear and resist the initiation of Death is always egoic, always brain chemistry—it is only these parts of us that fear the unknown, never the soul.

This is important for you to understand, so you can choose compassion for yourself as you explore why you might be less inclined to move through this cycle in certain areas of your life. Pour your attention and focus into the intention to surrender and trust. Surrender to the life/death/life cycle, remembering that there is no Death, no letting go, without rebirth. It is only a new beginning, never an ending.

The new beginning is here for you because you’ve worked for it! You’ve manifested, prayed, released, called in—now you’re ready to actually let go, and free fall into the Void. Whatever is leaving your life this month, Pisces—be it a job, a way of living, a relationship, an old pattern, a belief system—it is being replaced with something better and seriously upgraded. Period. Your job will be to foster the willingness to trust this, even if you cannot immediately see it. October will invite you to work on building this trust. In focusing on this, you will allow and make space for an easier death cycle, and a much more fruitful rebirth, transforming you in a way you never thought possible.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

ARIES :: ARIES RISING – Serenity/The Hermit, reversed

Allow this month to be an exercise in empowered solitary time, Aries. Take gentle space from social activities, carving out spiritually nourishing alone time. Go within, spend tons of time outside, connect with nature, up your meditation practice; get back to basics with food, ritual, and self-care. Take a vacation and turn your phone off. It’s very important to not assume that swaths of time will just present themselves for this level of personal practice—for you, there’s always something to do, and to focus on. And so you must maintain excellent boundaries this month, letting there be ample time for reconnection and just be-ing.

No accomplishing, no strategizing, just being with and by yourself in a deep way for moments at a time. October will offer you the opportunity, no matter how full or busy your schedule might be, to take gentle action on behalf of your spiritual serenity. Doing so, honoring that this is the most important thing for you to focus on, will greatly improve your overall quality of life, and will deepen your connection to yourself and the world around you.

Serenity, or The Hermit is the Tarot’s “sacred pause” card. There is truly nothing to do other than to go within when we are in this card—time almost energetically curves to support that. There is no booking of flights, no big movements, no huge decisions in this energy, and that’s totally aligned. The focus is always drawn within, to “chop wood and carry water,” as the saying goes. The Hermit is so important because it offers us a time to not only refresh, but to temper the ego and brain down so that we get the chance to stop taking action in a harried, desperate way. We can come to understand in this card that there is no rush—that everything happens exactly when it is supposed to.

The reversal of The Hermit indicates that you’re leaking energy, allowing your time and thoughts to be taken up with stuff that isn’t filling you up and serving you. It’s also why you’ve been asked to be very empowered and thorough with your personal boundaries—to practice pausing and tuning in before you say yes to anything this month. I mean ANYTHING. The more you speak and honor your truth, the more spiritually nourishing space you will have for yourself. Your time is deeply sacred; start treating it that way.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

TAURUS :: TAURUS RISING – The Empress, reversed

October promises to be a month of beautiful regeneration for you, Taurus. In general, most of your gas tanks are a bit low, and rather than continuing to push yourselves, it’s important to emphasize ease and grace in the upcoming month. During this time, you will be energetically encouraged to do anything that feels delicious to you: spending more time outdoors, getting away for the weekend, going out with friends, going out on dates, meditating, self-pleasuring, moving your body in a way that makes you feel fantastic—the sky is truly the limit.

The Empress reversed is asking you to remember who you are, Taurus: a sensual being, a lover of beauty, a seeker of alignment, ruled by Venus. You can’t be working 80 hour weeks without honoring those qualities in yourself on a regular basis! It just doesn’t work for you anymore. It never did. This month will offer you the opportunity to see how much more abundant, easy, peaceful and satisfying your life can be when you value self care over the grind. It is time to review your priorities.

The Empress is the embodiment of the sacred feminine; she is the divine mother, goddess, creator of all, and master of receptivity. She teaches us to remember that we are one with her in every way; she often comes to us reversed, as she is for you this month, when we forget this. You can reconnect with her through creativity and a gentle reevaluation of your self-care. Don’t be afraid to take this space, to be very clear with your boundaries this month, to go out of your way to make life a little more beautiful for yourself every day.

The other way back into The Empress is to dive deeply into any lingering issues around taking this sacred space—are you uncomfortable with too much goodness? Too much receiving? Has your heart been feeling more closed as of late? If so, what might be the reason? Many times, we can keep ourselves busy out of the unconscious desire to avoid some kind of worry, grief or anxiety. Is your busy lifestyle masking an emotional wound, or have you just gotten so busy that you’ve surrendered some of your sacred time to the grind? It is time to allow your life to be infused with just as much beauty, alignment and abundance as it is hustle and work. Ask the right questions, then take the first steps.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

GEMINI :: GEMINI RISING – Ace of Swords

Remember when I mentioned in your September Tarotscope that October would be a wild month for you? Well, I hope you took the invitation of Queen of Pentacles and rested a bit—for as predicted, you are in for quite a ride! Power, potential and prosperity are all beautiful descriptions of this upcoming month for you, Gemini. Ace of Swords is bringing a ton of good energy your way! Think new ideas, new projects, and amazing collaborations. This kind of mental space will be ideal for getting things off the ground, moving with your inspiration and taking action as desired.

This is exactly the kind of frequency that you organically thrive in, Gemini, so be prepared to really be in your element and zone of genius for the entire month. Don’t be afraid to be bold as you move in the direction of your dreams. Any Ace card is extremely powerful, as Aces are essentially divine gifts in whatever element they present themselves in. In the case of the Ace of Swords, this energy is centered in the brilliance, alignment and perfection of the mind’s capabilities.

When we are in this card, we become a kind of divining rod for intuitive receiving; ideas flow to us organically, we understand things we couldn’t before, the next steps reveal themselves, and we become unafraid to make our visions a reality. When balanced and primed, the mind is the most magnificent tool we have available to us. When unfettered by worries and fears, we become clear, able to sense and see the next steps of our path. This kind of perceptive power is where the Ace of Swords is going to live for you this month, Gemini—in this realm of new beginnings and potent visions. October will feel like, as the Starchild Tarot says, “a heightened state of spiritual and mental clarity.”

It is also worthy of repeating that this is an action-oriented card, just as it is a card of inspiration. Apply your focus to planting your brilliant ideas and helping them take root in the world around you. Anything you work on during this month will have absolutely incredible impacts on your world and those around you—all for the good. Be willing to be less social if that calls to you, and say no to whatever doesn’t excite you. This is such a special, potent month; make sure you are fully available for wherever your intuition takes you.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

CANCER :: CANCER RISING – Starseed, reversed

It is time, Cancer. Steel yourself, honor your fear, bow to your resistance, and leap into the great unknown. Jump, eyes wide open, into your next cycle of expansion. You know exactly what I am talking about—every one of you! You know the area in your life, the place in which you’ve been stalling on the edge of that cliff for too long. Well, there’s a “let go, or be dragged” kind of energy this month. Don’t wait to be thrown off the cliff—choose the voluntary jump. The leap is so much less uncomfortable than the resistance. So say yes, put your fear in the backseat, and just do it.

Are you tricking yourself into a kind of waiting game, Cancer? Are you taking your uneasiness, discomfort and fear as evidence that you shouldn’t jump into this next stage? If so, I’m here to shut that down for you completely. Anytime we experience profound uneasiness or extreme resistance toward an invitation to jump into our lives, assume that leaping is exactly the right thing to do. That kind of dance between brain chemistry and soul expansion is what we are talking about here, Cancer. The brain will do everything it can to keep you on the edge of that cliff—the soul is always ready to leap.

So, you must ask yourself: in which frequency would you like to live? Scared and stuck, or scared and willing? The answer to this is extremely important for you on all levels—karmically, energetically, spiritually and practically. Starseed, or The Fool, is a divine invitation to leap into the unknown. The Fool’s call is always a wonderful one, and there is never anything to fear from this card. The very essence of The Fool is magical; we are always in the right place at the right time with this card.

When The Fool is reversed, as it is for you this month, Cancer, it does not mean that the leap is ill-timed or unwise. It means that you may be afraid to look foolish—to fail or to regret your decision. It means that there is some divide between brain and soul, between fear and instinct. Remember that fear doesn’t equal truth. You cannot fail in The Fool. You’ve stood at the edge long enough—the only way out is forward. Take a breath and just leap.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

LEO :: LEO RISING – Knight of Cups

This month is full of amazing potential for you, Leo, especially in the area of creative expansion. Knight of Cups is a truly beautiful, heart-centered energy, and I encourage you to let it be your totem and North star this month. Do everything you can to make room for new levels of beauty, alignment and abundance in your life; open the doors to your heart and invite it in.

How do you want your life to feel? This is the million-dollar question. Whether it be romantic partnership, a greater quality of life with yourself, more nourishing friendships or more satisfaction with your creative pursuits, questioning how you want your life to feel will shift your day-to-day tremendously. Be willing to consider that this alchemical shift will be easier than you ever imagined it could be. Let alignment in, and let pushing and forcing go. Allow the more effortful parts of your life to be replaced with a surrender and a trust.

This trust will be challenging, Leo, there’s no doubt about it—but it’s a challenge that will pay off if you’re consistent. Be willing to dream a little bigger and aim a little higher. Look with a patient eye at the places in yourself that are stuck, scared or hopeless. This month’s energy will offer a healing, restorative balm to those spots. Knight of Cups is a truly lovely frequency. It is going to bring so much magic to your October. Romantic, sweet and clarifying, the energy of the card brings with him a kind of activism borne of beauty and clarity. He balances the heart and mind so we can be available for new opportunities, new expansions and new steps.

And those things are coming for you, Leo; Knight of Cups is showing you how to be available for it. The invitation of the month will be to allow this marriage of the heart and head to infuse into everything you do. Your life has the potential to change this month—all for the better. It has the potential to become easier, more aligned and more abundant. This is the time to take stock of what you’ve built around you, and ask yourself if it’s serving you. Either way, Knight of Cups is the perfect ally. Dream big, invite in more sweetness, and the next direction of your life will reveal itself.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

VIRGO :: VIRGO RISING – Strength, reversed

The Strength card is a spiritual, intuitive, psychological game changer. When it graces us with its presence in a reading, it is bringing an invitation to transform on a cellular level. Strength asks us to face something, in our internal or external world, that scares us. It asks us to choose to walk up to this thing willingly, rather than run away. The act of regarding our fears with such bravery, courage, and willingness is a quantum shift.

We begin to see that what we were afraid of isn’t anywhere near as terrifying as we thought it would be—the proverbial monster melts the beam of our truth, and we gain a level of self-awareness that is invaluable. We begin to trust ourselves at a level that is unshakeable—how could we not? The brain told us to run, but the heart and intuition told us to walk forward. When we honor this channel in a moment of such intense, primal conditioning, evolution occurs at soul level. We enter a new realm of intimacy with ourselves; life transforms.

Arguably the most famous image of this Tarot card is from the Smith-Rider-Waite deck: a soft, gentle woman dressed in white and draped in flowers has tamed a lion. She is regarding it with so much love and kindness, and it, in turn, is letting her pet him, tame as a kitten. This is what is possible in this card. The more we regard our fears with gentleness and love, the more they stop trying to hound us. We don’t need to muscle through our anxieties, trying to push them away. Our fears are not wrested by feats of strength like that. In fact, the more open and unarmed we are, the more powerful the loosening of our anxieties.

This is true strength. The wisdom to know that what we are afraid of is only a lost, broken, neglected part of ourselves, crying for our attention. This is going to be a powerful, powerful month for you, Virgo. Strength has truly blessed you with it’s presence, helping you to loosen the ties to whatever binds you. It is time to look at some part of your life squarely; it is time to be free from the prison of your fear. You already have everything you need in order to do this. The more you step forward into your fears with courage, the more your life will transform.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

You woke up now age spirituality when you moved to LA: what triggered this in you? This journey actually started around age 19,while I was still living in San Diego. I felt really disillusioned, confused and alone in my discrepancy with mass culture and the economic system. Frankly, my soul was exhausted and I had lost hope in life and I suppose that was when the Universe decided to intervene! Various books opened my consciousness and my heart, and I finally felt like I was getting in touch with what Truth actually felt like, and I had been yearning for that in a deep way. When I moved to LA around 21, I remember my first date with this tattooed Pisces dream boat was at a meditation in an old art gallery with a Japanese Sensei. I thought…“Wow, welcome to LA!!”

And why does the tarot resonate so strongly with you? I became fascinated with the Tarot not long after moving to Los Angeles. Something about the imagery, colors and symbolism just fits with my psyche and my worldview. I remember when I was really little, I loved to draw and paint with every color I could get my little hands on. The Tarot is an extension of my fascination with beautiful visual aesthetics married with my other love, the esoteric.

What have been the most profound teachings of the tarot for you? The Tarot has taught me that there is a deeper, more beautiful, more loving and way bigger Truth that lies beyond my fears, programming and ideas around how I think things “should” be. The Tarot has ignited a path for me around trusting my intuition and believing in the perfect imperfection of the life journey! To trust my internal guide and not take myself so seriously, that life is a game.

How did you wind up as The Nine of Crystals in The Starchild Tarot Deck, and what’s your reading of this card?Danielle (of the Starchild Tarot) had been following each other on Instagram for a while and were always sending one another little love bombs via the comment sections. When she asked if I’d like to photograph for her next version of the deck, I was floored! One of my favorite photographers and dear friend, Tiffanie Byron, photographed me in the majestic Angeles Mountains just 20 minutes outside of the city. My reading of the Nine of Crystals is that in order to change the external, we must change the internal first. The way I appear on the card definitely denotes a trust in the magic of understanding and loving the power of the Self.

You also practice astrology. What do you think will be the astro theme of 2016? For me the theme of 2016 is self-awareness, self-love, and taking action when we hear the call. Not delaying. If it calls to your heart, go for it! No more denying the soul’s voice. I think the Cosmos is ever asking us to become aware of who we are in a deep way, in a soul way, to take responsibility for our own self-work and internal transformation, and not to place blame on anyone outside of us.

My transformation Learning to love/accept myself and “others.” Respecting that I don’t have to be perfect to be loved. Trusting the Universe that my path will always be illuminated. My mission To remind us that deep beauty and connection does exist in the world.

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Check out our upcoming LA event with Natalia Benson: The Numinous Presents: An Introduction to the Tarot. To register email: [email protected]

“Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic” – Ellie Burrows is inspired by the classic line behind our most popular Instagram post to date…. Portrait: Mikal Marie Photography

“Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic…”

This quote is often incorrectly attributed to Frida Khalo, but it’s actually a line from a poem called Frida Khalo to Marty McConnell by Marty McConnell. I guess I can sort of see how that would be confusing. You can watch McConnell perform it beautifully here, and if you’re really listening it becomes clear this poem is a reflection on a break up, rather than an ode to mystical love.

But no matter who said it, taken out of context this line never ceases to inspire those who read it. It pushes our internal heart button and causes us to double-tap the external one too – there are thousands of likes associated with it across Instagramland, the Tumblrverse and the Twittersphere.

Magic…

One meaning of the word is “inexplicable things” and that’s the definition I want to focus on. But first, I need to clear a bit of smoke from the air, and throw out some mirrors.

Let’s pause for a throwback: When I was growing up and would get into trouble for hanging out with the fast crowd, my mother would say to me “you’re judged by the company you keep.” And although 15-year-old Ellie would call me a sellout for saying this, my mother was totally right.

So hey Magic, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you have to stop hanging out with the word “trick.”

I can’t tell you how many people I know who are seeking meaningful relationships via suspect means. All around me I see people trying to conjure love, undoubtedly what feels like a rather tricky business of late. In the contemporary dating world, some of the newest tricks in the book are actually very old tricks called “illusions.”

She gives him the impression that she’s fine with an open relationship in order to make him stay.

He creates a mirage of interest and strings her along because it makes him feel less lonely while he gets all those oats out of his system.

And my favorite – she doesn’t respond to a text message right away because then it appears like she’s busy and indifferent. (The latter we call playing hard to get. Since playing is the operative word, it would indicate that she is just pretending and is in fact, easy to get. Just saying.)

Friends, your act isn’t working. It is time to drop the top hat and the rabbit. If you are an adult and seriously looking for love, then why are you choosing to forget that tricks are for kids?

I’d like you to consider that the illusions listed above have nothing to do with magic. Instead, they involve another M word: manipulation. Definition: “control or falsification.” And when you think about it, a stage magician is really more of a master manipulator. He is highly skilled at fooling you, but no – that woman didn’t actually get sawed in half.

But a true magician? Well, that’s something else entirely…

According to the Tarot, the Magician, #1 in the Major Arcana, is considered the bridge between the spiritual and the material. With his right hand pointing a staff toward the sky and his left bringing our attention the ground, he can channel the power of the Universe and bring it into the physical plane.

You can see it on the table next to him, which holds all four suits of the Tarot (Pentacles, Wands, Cups, Swords), each of which corresponds to one of the four elements of the ancient alchemists (Earth, Fire, Water and Air). These symbolize the proper use of mind, heart, body and soul in the process of manifestation.

A real magician is not an illusionist, but a creator. This card is all about the best use of our highest self, turning ideas into actions with the power to make a difference in our own lives. This card begs questions like “Am I using my powers for good or evil?” and “Am I tapping into my fullest potential?”

The Magician from the Spirit Speak Tarot

We are the magicians responsible for taking our abstract, sometimes inexplicable, feelings and bringing them through to the material plane. This is unbelievably challenging, since it requires the full engagement of physical form to lay our souls’ desires on the proverbial table.

When I’m building a relationship, I can feel my entire system using its “powers” to do so. My mind must ground the fears of judgment, rejection, and loneliness. My heart must glow with unconditional self-love, trust, and honesty. My body must swim against the current of its biological predisposition to fight or fly in the face of vulnerability in order to genuinely communicate my wants and needs.

We are all magicians who must work daily to create clear unobstructed pathways within ourselves in order to travel more freely in the confusing world around us. We are the magicians who must understand that our internal worlds are so complicated that we must endeavor to create external simplicity wherever we can.

But if instead we focus on crafting trap doors and smoke screens that are just there for effect, then authentic relationships and clear outcomes will be center stage when it comes time for the disappearing act.

So if what you’re looking for is, in fact, a real relationship, leave your bags of tricks at home. Instead, put something like the following on the table next to your drinks: